


The Tale of the Rogue and the Stoneheart Witch

by RosaLeoa



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Bisexual Ben Solo, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Cat BB-8, Comfort/Angst, Dark Rey (Star Wars), Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Fairy Tale Retellings, Han Solo Dies, Happy Ending, HopePunk, Horror, Medieval Fantasy, Mentions of war crimes such as rape and murder, Minor Past Ben Solo/Tai, No Pregnancy, No Smut, Prince Ben Solo, Snoke and Palpatine are different people, Swordfighting, Witchcraft, Witches, happy ever after
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:48:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26841670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosaLeoa/pseuds/RosaLeoa
Summary: In the forgotten land of Jakku, there's a ruin surrounded by a petrified forest. The legends say that, inside the Castle Cailleach, are insurmountable treasures guarded by an evil witch. Kylo Ren, a scoundrel, launches himself in a suicidal quest for a single item: an enchanted mirror that once belonged to the Fae King. The mirror shows anyone and anywhere you want to see, in the past, the present, or the future.The problem remains that no one comes back alive and sane from a fight with the Stoneheart Witch. Not that Kylo cares. He is already dead and already broken.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 20
Kudos: 75
Collections: Queerly Beloved Reylo Fics, Reylo Hidden Gems





	The Tale of the Rogue and the Stoneheart Witch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [reywritethestar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reywritethestar/gifts).



> I want to thank reywritethestar, minha querida inglesinha, for her deep work as a beta here. I hope you guys enjoy this one-shot, I wrote it in the most fairytale-y possible from beginning to end.

The people from that forgotten land had told him in the common language that he would have to cross the petrified forest before getting to the haunted castle where the evil witch guarded the enchanted mirror. The owner of the only waterhole in the village warned him to not eat anything in the castle and not take anything from the forest, if he wanted a slim chance of getting back alive.

"Most people don't come back and the ones who do usually reappear completely insane, you know that, right?" She asked him, pouring some more ale. She had dark skin and big dark eyes. Jannah, she was called. She wasn't from these parts, like him. "I know everyone has heard the rumours of the treasures lost inside Castle Cailleach, but I don't get why people keep going there." And then she muttered more to herself than for him to hear: "Bloody fools..."

"I'm not interested in the treasures." The strange, unnamed man growled as he set his tankard of ale back on the bench with a thud.

For twenty long years, he had been called Kylo Ren. Kylo was a robber, a scoundrel. He lived with his pack of rogues and had no family and no one who cared about him. But, a few months ago, everything had changed.

***

It was a normal raid on a road in the kingdom of Naboo. Kylo hadn't been there since he was a little boy. It was raining that day, a holy day. All Hallows Eve. Master Snoke insisted -- with the same strength he insisted on being called "Sire" even if he had no breeding and with the same rage he slapped Kylo with if he brought no loot back to their lair -- that they should attack the convoy that was rumoured to be going there that evening. Some nobleman running back home after years led astray in a life of gambling and corruption. Kylo led the attack. He realized something was off when the coat of arms in the banners seemed eerily familiar under the curtain of water pouring from the sky.

The convoy was heavily guarded, with men in full armor. Kylo killed several of them when the Lord got off the coach and drew his sword.

"Take off your helmet," the old man said.

"What do you think you will see if I do?" Kylo asked, breathing heavily from the exertion of the battle.

***

He paid the innkeeper and left on his horse towards the petrified forest. He wasn't afraid of death. He wasn't afraid of going insane. He had heard the tales of Castle Cailleach since he was a little boy:

 _Once upon a time_ , _the barren land of Jakku had a different name and was fertile and happy. Humans and fae lived in harmony side by side, until Lord Palpatine and Lord Vader raided those lands over three decades ago on their way to take Alderaan. They pillaged the fields, killed every man who could hold a sword in battle, raped the women, and kidnapped the boys to become their soldiers. They left Unkar Plutt as the new liege of those lands. Decades passed and Plutt, after one too many scuffles with the fae, ordered to slit the throat of every fae his men could find. The story says they missed a girl. She hid in the forest and the forest petrified with her rage, and so did her heart. Plutt sent his men for years in the forest to get the scavenger witch, and she would hoist their bodies on trees as warnings for the next ones to come._

Kylo was fascinated with the new songs the bards sang about the Stoneheart Witch every time his group arrived in a new town. A few years before Kylo had decided to go on his quest, the bards sang that the prey had become the predator and the Witch had stormed the castle with only the devil's aid on her behalf and slain every man in the castle. She left all of the children and the women alive and told them to leave with what they could carry and never look back. The bards sang of how she’d left Plutt for last and savored his heart after drawing out his death for a long time.

Eager for the chance to become immortal in songs and tales for killing such a powerful witch and the prospect of becoming the new liege of Jakku, Emperor Palpatine issued an order that every single one of the castle's treasures would belong to the man who managed to achieve such a feat. This golden promise attracted knights and scoundrels from every known kingdom in the world. Who wouldn't want such riches, such power?

Kylo didn't. He only launched into such a suicidal quest because he knew for a fact, from a lady of the night that used to be in Plutt's service, that the king of the fae once had a magical mirror which showed anywhere and anyone its master demanded. Plutt hung that mirror on the wall of his chamber and used it to talk to the Emperor. The Emperor didn't have a need for such mirrors. He was well versed in all forms of witchcraft and could turn any reflection into an illusion. But Kylo, although plagued with prophetic dreams and devilish voices in his head that he couldn't cast away, couldn't see anyone he wanted to. More specifically, he couldn't see the one person he wanted to.

***

"What do you think you will see if I do?"

"The face of the man who will finish my days before I can comfort my dying wife."

***

Kylo woke up in the middle of the night, horrified that once more his dreams transported him back to that damned evening. He was in the petrified forest for a day and a half, following the trail of corpses on different stages of decomposition. It appeared that the Stoneheart Witch still had the little habit of exposing her late victims for the next ones. Kylo was ready to slay her or die by her hand. He deserved it. He deserved anything she wanted to do with him. He only had one desire in his heart: to get to the mirror before that could happen.

For a forest without a single living animal, the petrified forest of Jakku was full of strange noises that scared his horse, making the crossing impossible on horseback. Kylo had to return to the small village on the first day and leave his beast with the innkeeper. Jannah promised she would look after it and refrain from selling it for a week. After that, she would assume that Kylo had fallen by the hands of the witch and give the horse a new home. Kylo agreed. It was not like he could disagree with her.

So he walked alone by foot to his demise. The corpses seemed to whisper in his ears the tales of their lost lives and dreams. The trees warned him of the foolishness of his attempts. He would probably go insane, if he wasn't already. He tried to sleep that night and the forest cried louder than his own cries with the memory of the last battle. Every step he took inside the forest, the smell of the battle grew stronger and the cries of the corpses were even more coherent and loud. He would go insane, if he wasn't already.

On the third day, his water ended. On the fourth, it was his food. On the fifth, he realized he had been walking in circles for God knows how long. That was when he finally sat in the dirt and cried like a lost babe, because that was what was left of him. The lost boy who would never see his mother's face again. Before passing out, Kylo thought he saw something moving in the woods towards him.

***

"The face of the man who will finish my days before I can comfort my dying wife."

He took the helmet off; he felt a strange impulse to comply with the last wish of a dead man walking. Someone had lit the carriage on fire and it cast a light over the battlefield, like the Seven Rings of Hell itself. Kylo saw the man's face better. He felt a weird pang on his chest, something was fighting to come back to him. The old man froze in place, as if he was facing a ghost.

"Ben?"

***

Kylo woke up feeling like he was drowning. The first thing he noticed was that his armor and weapons were gone. The second was that he was indoors and in a bed. The third was that a very appetizing meal was waiting for him on a tray by the side of the bed. His stomach hurt. His throat hurt. He was feeling weak. He looked around, assessing his surroundings, and realized that he was inside Castle Cailleach. Yet he wasn't in a dungeon. In fact, if he didn't know any better, these quarters almost seemed like a guest chamber. The food smelled wonderful. He got closer to the tray, held the beautiful golden goblet in his hand, smelled the amazing wine inside it… and threw everything to the ground. 

He couldn't be tempted. Somehow, the witch had captured him and made him her prisoner. Why she didn't kill him at once was a mystery to be solved. Why the door to his chamber wasn't locked was another mystery. He looked over the window and realized that he was in a very high tower and jumping from it was impossible.

Kylo wandered around the castle for hours on end and not a single living soul crossed his path. The corridors were in a state of absolute ruin with rotting tapestry, holes in the roof that allowed the beams of direct sunlight to stream inside the castle, and ivy growing on the walls.

Before long, the night was falling again and his body still ached with thirst and hunger, when he heard a song coming somewhere from within the West Wing. He followed the music and soon enough the smell of a feast came to his nose, leaving him dizzy and lightheaded. The voice was beautiful, like that of an angel, and there was music accompanying her. Could the tales be mistaken? Could the castle not be devoid of people? He went down a flight of stairs and found a maiden with flowers in her hair cooking a meal. The music appeared to come from thin air, since no instruments were to be found, and it was her who sang with such a beautiful voice.

She had high cheekbones and freckles on her tiny nose. Her front teeth were big and beautiful, appearing from under her lips, which had a perfectly drawn cupid's bow. Kylo was so transfixed watching her move, entranced by her task, that he forgot for a moment he should be looking for her mistress, an evil and dangerous witch. It was only when she saw him and startled, letting one of her pots fall to the floor, scared, that he got a bearing of himself again.

"I'm so terribly sorry, fair maiden, I didn't mean to lurk in the shadows and scare you." Kylo apologized, running to help her clean the mess. 

She still seemed scared of him, holding a ladle in front of herself as if it could be used as a weapon. Kylo got on his knees and grabbed a dirty rag on the floor to mop up the puddle of broth around her feet. "I don't want to put you in a difficult position with your mistress."

"My… mistress?" She finally asked, uncertain.

"Aren't you another prisoner of the Stoneheart Witch? Doesn't she make you cook and serve her?"

"Ah." She got on her knees too, cleaning with Kylo. "I have to cook and clean for the one they call the Stoneheart Witch, yes." From up close, her eyes seemed almost green.

"Do you know why she decided to take me in too?" Kylo asked, rising to his feet and offering his hand to help her. For a maid, her palm was incredibly soft.

She threw the rag in a nearby bucket, cleaned her hands on her apron, and ran to the hearth to tend to her meal before answering Kylo's question. When she turned to him again, her face was flushed from the fire.

"I believe only the Stoneheart Witch could give you the answers you seek, Sire."

Kylo laughed, nervous. "I’m not sure I am enough of a gentleman to be called sire, fair maiden."

"What should I call you, then?" There was a twinkle in her eyes, something bold that made Kylo's stomach flutter beside the hunger and the amazing smell of her food.

"My companions call me Kylo Ren," he answered, doing a small curtsey. "And what should I call you, dear girl? Fair is fair, after all."

"Well then Kylo, you may call me Kira" she replied, giving him a shy smile. Kira turned her back to him again, dousing the flames from the stone-oven in which she cooked. "Will you dine with me, Kylo?"

"As much as I would love to, I fear I should not," he answered her, sad.

"And why is that?" She seemed disappointed, but her melodic voice was also alluring him. "Do you fear I'm a bad cook?"

He chuckled. "Far from it." 

"A starving man refusing food and beverage? Why, he must think the food is poisoned, then." She teased him further.

To prove her point, Kira broke off a piece of bread and dipped it in the cauldron of soup before eating it in front of him. She chewed a bit and then choked, clutching her hands to her throat, her big eyes wide. Kylo looked around, scared, and grabbed a knife. The witch must have been there with them and she was punishing the girl for…

Laughter exploded behind him. When he looked again, Kira was bent over, laughing so hard that her eyes welled with tears and her nose scrunched.

"Oh, you wench! How could you tease me like that?!" Kylo yelled. Kira stopped laughing, looking a little bit worried.

"I am terribly sorry for having scared you. I miss jesting with my friends, you see. I am so lonely here, nothing but a sad prisoner in this castle." Her apologies dampened the anger in Kylo's heart. "Dine with me, Kylo. Please."

When she asked that of him again, he didn't have the heart to say no - his stomach also growled rather loudly in protest. He allowed himself to sit on the wooden bench by the large table in the kitchen, tired, and accepted the flagon of water that Kira offered him.

"I hope you won't throw this meal on the floor," she teased him while pouring soup into a bowl.

"I wouldn't want to offend such a gracious hostess."

The water was the purest that Kylo had ever tasted. The soup was hearty and delicious, and soon he was sharing wine with Kira and laughing at her jokes.

"I am a simple peasant girl, my parents were goaters who liked to be idle. My mother would sing in the mountains while braiding my hair," she told him after the meal when they were sitting by the fire. "Like most people around here, I lost my parents to the blade of a sword at an early age and had to fend for myself since I was a little girl. The night that the Stoneheart Witch raided this castle, I stayed behind after everyone left. No one missed me -- there was no one left to do so." She buried her face in her skirts and cried. "You're the first one to talk to me in years."

"I am so sorry." He didn't know what else to say. "Does your mistress mistreat you?"

"Oh no," she answered in a soft voice, her face still hidden from him. "The legends are highly inaccurate about the witch. She's not evil. Not to everyone, at least. And this castle is happier now with her at the command. Less of a monstrous place, at least."

"She kills every man who dares to cross her path, Kira."

"Not true." She raised her face to look at him.

"Yes, I am alive, but..."

"Not you. She didn't kill the servants who didn't resist when she took the castle. She only killed the men with blades."

"How many were they?"

"Dozens, perhaps. I don't know. I wasn't counting."

"Yes. Yes, Lord, of course. I am sorry, you were probably petrified." 

Kira nodded absently, yet her stern face looking into the flames didn't seem scared when remembering. There was something in the face of that peasant girl that Kylo couldn't put his finger on. He yawned, feeling sated and relaxed.

"It's late, we should go to bed. Bebé can lead you back to your chambers."

"Bebé?" As soon as Kylo asked, a long meow came from the kitchen door. A big orange cat, that looked more like a fox than a cat, sat on the threshold and licked its paw.

"He's the familiar of the witch," she answered simply, gathering the dirty dishes in a big bucket and throwing a pitcher of boiling water on them. "Fear not, he won't hurt you. His mistress told him not to. You're the witch's guest, after all."

"When will I meet her, Kira?" Kylo asked, stopping midway towards the cat. Kira was busy with the dishes, with her back turned to him.

"It's late now, Kylo. Go to your chambers. We will talk more of it in the morning."

***

"Ben?"

That was a name he hadn’t heard out loud since he was a boy playing with wooden swords. How could this man know him?

"Ben is gone. He was weak and foolish like his father, so I destroyed him." He echoed Snoke's words back to the lord in front of him, circling him with his sword drawn. His sword pulsed and sang, baying for blood.

"That's what Snoke wants you to believe," the lord retorted, yet there was kindness in his voice. Who is kind to an enemy? "But it's not true." Kylo was closer now. The man's eyes pierced right through him. The sword sang louder, demanding to be used. "My son is alive."

***

"Shhh, you're safe now, everything is all right." 

Kira's voice from the end of the bed brought him back to reality, her warm hand slipped into his. Kylo realized to his horror that he was wearing nothing but his breeches and his whole body was clammy with sickly sweat. "Um, yes. Good morning, Kira."

In the morning light that entered through the windows, her hair shone in several different colours. There were strands of chestnut brown, golden, and auburn, tucked away in careful plaits. She was dressed better than the night before, too. Not like a lady, but with a lovely dress that was better suited to church or special events than to tending to a rogue. Kylo sat on the bed and saw that Kira had brought him a tray again. On the end of the bed, Bebé sat staring at him with big intelligent eyes. The cat had guided him back to the bedroom last night, and even brushed up against his legs before trotting away, but Kylo tried not to forget that cats were creatures allied to the devil and that this specific cat was actually a demon guarding a witch.

"Kira...as much as I appreciate your tending, I'm afraid I do not look proper." He knew he was big and ugly: his whole body was covered in scars and moles. His face lacked a strong and manly chin and his nose was too big and not straight. He knew the harlots in the cities only bedded him because he paid them. He didn't need to subject Kira - pure, kind Kira - to such a sorry sight. 

To his surprise, she laughed."I do not care for modesty. I have brought you food and, once more, I need to assure you that it's not poisoned." She took a sip from his goblet and ate a spoon of his porridge. There was also a honey cake, which she perhaps took a too big of a bite for someone who was just trying to ease a guest. "I will be out in the garden, for the day is beautiful. If you want to join me when you're done, Bebé can guide you."

Of course, he would like nothing more than to join her, so Kylo spent the day outside with Kira. They ate together and took care of the orchard. He helped her rebuild a wall that had fallen, carrying heavy rocks and wood. He was no master builder, but he knew a thing or two of the trade. Every bite of Kira's food made him feel more and more at peace and sated, so much so that he only remembered to ask about the witch when it was late again, and Kira told him that it was not a good time to make new acquaintances.

***

"No." Kylo's voice broke, recognizing the old man. He was his father, Han Solo. "My master is wise."

"Snoke is using you for your power." So his father remembered the things Ben used to do as a boy. The marks of Satan in him. "When he gets what he wants, he will crush you."

Wrong. Snoke had already crushed him a long time ago. The sword itched in his grasp. Kylo could remember the physical sensations of the beatings the man had dealt him, how he’d been powerless to stop him. He was nothing.

***

Every day he would wake up from the nightmares to Kira's beautiful face. He would follow her around the castle, finding new things to mend. She showed him the library and Kylo felt a little more like Ben again, amongst the books and scrolls he had once loved. He spent a long time reading fascinating translations of the old sages and discussing them with Kira -- remarkably, she had taught herself to read and to write. Kylo helped her learn how to hold a pen properly and Kira taught him how to bake honey cakes.

Slowly but surely, the nightmares became vaguer and vaguer. An old man coughing blood in his arms, his last gesture a caress on Kylo's cheek. Soon, Kylo started to have peaceful nights of sleep. He never saw the witch. He never remembered to ask. He didn't even remember why he came to the castle in the first place. And then he forgot that he ever lived somewhere else; the only thing that mattered was Kira's smile, Kira's joy. Kylo lived to please her. He would capture rabbits and forage mushrooms for her in the woods and come back to her arms, where she welcomed him with a smile and a jest about how much she had to cook now because he ate like a bear.

***

The room smelled of sickness and death. People dressed in velour and jewels surrounded a bed in which a tiny elderly woman gasped for air. She was tired of the fight, but she kept pushing through. A dark man dressed in the garbs of a general sat by her bedside, and a tiny woman with almond-shaped eyes embraced him while he wept.

People whispered, worried, about how they would lose the war if the Emperor Palpatine knew Queen Leia was dying. Master Luke never came to help her. No one came to help the small resistance settled in the kingdom of Naboo. The consort prince Han Solo was dead. The only heir to the monarchy had been lost twenty years ago. Dark ages approached them and nothing could be done. A man with a tanned complexion and dark curls sobbed by Leia's other side of the bed. Poe. They had played together as boys. Poe was Ben's first flame, many moons before Tai. Ben felt his heart hurt within his chest with their collective pain.

"Do not cry, my dears. I will see my son one last time. Hope…" She gasped for air, being taken by a coughing fit. "...is like the sun. If you only believe in it when you see it, you will never make it through the night. Finn, Poe, Rose… I trust you. I trust you."

***

Ben woke up in the middle of the night, on his bed. His mind was clear for the first time in…how long? Outside the window, a cold wind squalled. He had arrived in the beginning of the Spring. His mother was still alive, barely, if his dream could be trusted.

He had always carried the marks of Satan with him. That was why his parents were afraid of him when he was little. That was why they had sent him to Uncle Luke in the Monastery. Uncle Luke was once a sorcerer, but he had renounced the dark arts of magic and led a simple life in isolation with a handful of students. That was, until the night Snoke raided the Monastery with the Fallen Knights of Ren, burned it to the ground, and took Ben with him. Snoke was hell-bent on teaching him how to be a man and how to kill men. He would be his captor, his master, his father, his own personal monster. And so Ben died a silent death.

Or so he thought, until his father, his real father, died in his arms almost a year ago. He knew he couldn't go back to Naboo; he was now a monster too, and Leia wouldn't receive him there. But he needed to see her one last time. He needed the enchanted mirror of the Fae King.

He dressed himself in the dark and realized that his armor and his weapons had been with him in the room all along. The Singing Sword chimed with joy when strapped again on its master's hip. Kira had been forced to feed him spells, it was clear now. The witch had used her to lower his defenses and Ben had almost forgotten everything. By the end of the bed, Bebé stirred awake and meowed, inquisitorial, at Ben.

"Take me to your mistress," he commanded.

He was decided. He would put his sword on the witch's throat, demand to see the mirror, demand to say goodbye to his mother, and he would plead for Kira's freedom too. They would find horses and join the Resistance. He couldn't say who he was, neither Ben nor Kylo would be welcomed there, but he could find a new name. He would marry Kira, make her a respectable woman, and she would have his modest fortune when he inevitably died in battle. The tiny furry demon guided him through the unending corridors, the moon peering through the holes in the roof his only companion. Kylo said a prayer to Saint Marguerite, pleading for her help to face the dragon that awaited him.

Soft sobs grew louder and louder with each step Kylo took. Bebé ran towards a room and waited silently for Kylo on the threshold, as if waiting for the idiot human, with his slow limbs, to catch up.

Inside, with her back turned to Kylo, a woman dressed in silk and furs cried on her knees in front of a huge mirror with a golden frame. She wore a crown of golden flowers on her hair and her hands were adorned with several mismatched rings.

Kylo looked at the mirror and saw that it showed a small, scrawny girl with three plaited buns on her head dancing and singing with a strangely familiar woman while a man with brown curls played the flute for them. As the woman and child sang, the wheat crop around them looked heavier and more bountiful. _Magic_. A gasp escaped Kylo's mouth when the pieces began to fall into place and the woman turned to him, eyes wide in terror when she realized she had been caught.

_Kira._

" _You!_ " He roared, angrily drawing his sword and charging towards her.

She scurried to her feet, drawing a long dagger from the folds of her dress. She had never been so beautiful than in that moment under the moonlight. She looked nothing like the tales painted her. No red flaming eyes and a double-bladed sword. No pointed teeth to better sink her jaws into men's hearts. But Kylo felt like she had carved his own heart out of his chest, nonetheless.

"You evil Delilah!" The singing sword made contact with her blade, and her face was so close to him that he could see the droplets of tears hanging on the edge of her thick dark lashes. She was surprisingly strong, holding off his attack. "You bewitched me, you deceived me."

She spun on her heels and darted away from him. In her movement, her dress vanished into the air in a cloud of flowers, leaving her dressed instead like a warrior, and the long dagger turned into a sword.

"I thought you were different!" She screamed back. "I thought you were my friend!" Her eyes were still bright with tears. "But you're a monster, just like the others!"

From the mirror came sounds of battle. The wheat crop where Kira and her mother danced was in flames and the girl had hidden in a hole in the ground while hired soldiers mangled her parents' bodies in front of her eyes. The image changed: Kylo was kneeled on the ground rocking his dead father's body, sobbing and begging for forgiveness. A sudden movement out of the corner of Kylo's eyes made him turn, trying to get out of the way, but it was too late. The witch charged at him and her blade made contact with his face, slashing it from his hairline to the curve of his shoulder.

"I am a monster, but what's to say of you, _witch?!_ " He spat, trying to clean the blood from his face.

She stood in front of him, her eyes furious like those of an avenging angel, and licked the blood from her blade, slowly and seductively cleaning the droplets left on her lips.

"It takes one to know one, right?" She smiled, dangerous.

And to think of all the times he could have killed her when she slept on his lap. He could have put his hands around her throat and squeezed until the life left her body. Kylo's blood boiled with rage. The images in the mirror changed again: a small boy chased a blue butterfly. A handsome man enveloped the boy in his arms before he fell through the window. A beautiful woman dressed in purple kissed the boy. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you, Ben" the woman whispered against the boy's curls.

"Stop with your tricks, _witch_ , and face me properly in this duel." Kylo demanded, even as he felt his throat tight and his eyes prickle.

She seemed disarmed too.

"I am not doing anything." She muttered.

The mirror changed. The peasant fairy held a tiny baby in her arms, her husband kissed her forehead."We will call her Rey," she said. The man laughed, happy.

"The mirror has no master. It shows what it wants." _Rey_ was her real name. "I have been so alone, Ben." And she was calling him by his. She was pleading with him. "I have seen your heart - when you were lost in the woods. I know you have never wanted to kill me, not truly. I only tricked you because...because I know you feel lonely too."

"Rey..."

The mirror suddenly showed a young girl, screaming in rage as the plants around her turned to stone. Showed the shadows that would leave the girl's heart and slice evil men in half.

The mirror showed a small elderly woman dying on an ample bed. The room was filled with people, but she was alone. Just like them.

"I can't leave until my son comes home..." Leia mumbled in her fevered sleep. The tiny woman with raven-black hair and almond-shaped eyes dabbed a cloth over her face, shushing and telling her it was going to be ok. But anyone could tell that it wasn't.

"I can help her." Rey's voice brought Ben back to the room where they were. "I can save your mother."

The Singing Sword demanded blood. Ben's wound on his face was still fresh from Rey's blade. He sneered, gripping his sword harder."Why should I trust you?" 

"Because the fae can't lie once they make a promise. And I promise I can save your mother." With a snap of her fingers a vial appeared on her hand. Rey dragged her blade across her palm, her blood shone in the moonlight, reacting when it touched the transparent liquid already within the vial. Rey shook it three times before tucking her blade away and offering the vial to Ben.

"And what will it cost me?" He asked, narrowing his eyes. He knew that the Fae didn't offer anything without charging a price.

"Go back to Naboo. I can take you there, too." A black candle suddenly appeared in Ben's free hand. "Light this candle thinking of her and you will be by her side in a minute."

"I asked you a question, Rey. What's the price?" Ben gritted out, still not lowering his sword. He knew she was dangerous even if she wasn't bearing arms.

"Become the rightful king. Kill Palpatine. Give me peace."

"Peace?"

"Yes. I want to die alone here. No more knights, no more quests. Just spend the rest of my days with Bebé and die. That's my price."

Ben felt his heart hurt with the idea of never seeing her again. She was a witch. She had killed dozens of men. She had tricked him. And he… and he…

"Come with me." He let his sword fall to the floor and offered his hand to her. His blood trickled down his chest, warm and sticky.

Rey, understandably, seemed very confused. She furrowed her brow and clutched the vial with the cure for Leia tighter in her grasp.

"You are just a peasant girl. Your parents were nobodies -- _you_ are a nobody." Rey choked out a harsh sob, and Ben noticed with alarm that she was crying again. "But not to me," he hurriedly added.

"What are you talking about, Ben?" Rey asked between sobs.

"Come with me. Together we can defeat Palpatine, we can rule the world." He was trembling.

She was his enemy. She ate the hearts of men. She was the devil's concubine. She loved honey cakes. She braided flowers in his hair. She was lonely. He wanted her.

"We…?"

"Be my queen, Rey." Ben swallowed. "I can't do this without you."

"You don't need me -- you're powerful. Your sword was forged with the Excalibur. You have magic flowing in your veins," she stammered, shaking her head. A soft pink light began to creep into the room, brightening it bit by bit. Dawn was arriving.

"But I need a teacher," he pleaded.

"No. You… you don't need to offer me any of that. Just leave me alone, Ben."

"Be my queen, Rey," he said again, weaker this time. She didn't want him back.

" _Why?_ " Rey asked, crying. "Why do you want to keep punishing me for the rest of my life for having fallen in love with you?"

Ben crossed the room in long strides, almost running toward her. The black candle fell to the floor as he reached out to cradle her face in his hands. She touched his face where she had cut him and the wound closed under her fingers. He smiled, happy and shy.

"Marry me, Rey, because I love you."

She pulled Ben to her by his shirt collar -- with her magic touch, his armor had disappeared -- and rose on her tiptoes to kiss him fiercely. No one had ever wanted him like that before. The sun shone bright into the room and Ben realized that he could hear the birds singing around the castle. As they kissed, the forest came back to life and took the ruins. The stones crumbled under their feet, turning into flowers and butterflies. That place of horrible massacres and untold horrors wouldn't be occupied by anyone else ever again. Once frozen animals yawned and stretched out of their slumber, enjoying the sunlight and the soft breeze. Ben was wrong, it was summer.

Together, they lit the candle and left.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This story was sparked by rewritethestar's "What AU is this?" challenge on Twitter. I imagined a tale of revenge, deception, and redemption. Rey and Ben are prisoners of their own ghosts (cough such a recurring theme to me cough) and find freedom in each other. I could have made this a multichapter and have fleshened out more their traumas, their relationship, their betrayal... But I need to write my PhD project and I really can't have one more WIP. Even so, I fell in love with these characters. If you want to talk more about fairytales, look me up on Twitter @ nerd_leoa !  
> The story has some elements inspired by the Arthurian legends (including Hal Foster's "Prince Valiant" and his Singing Sword), a little bit of Oedipus King (unknowingly killing your father in a battle on the road), and Fae Witch!Rey is a mix of: Morgana Le Fey, Nimue, and Circe.  
> During their fight, when Rey says that she thought Ben was her "friend" I wrote this word with the Medieval meaning of it, not the contemporary.  
> P.S.: I always name BB-8 "Bebé" in my AUs because in Latin Languages, BB sounds just like the words for "baby"


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